Angry headmaster attacks deputy with a wrench over suspected affair with colleague

At some point in a probably otherwise unremarkable school day in an English village, an unhinged headmaster decided to take matters into his own hands.

Anthony John Felton, convinced that he and his deputy had both been involved with the same teacher, saw fit to confront his colleague in an explosive and violent manner.

In a shocking video capturing the dramatic altercation, Felton can be seen assaulting assistant headteacher Richard Pyke with a wrench, leaving no doubt as to the severity of his anger and confusion.

Father-of-three Felton, known as John, had been friends with Mr Pyke for many years but attacked him in a ‘terribly jealous overreaction’ in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Felton believed Mr Pyke had slept with another teacher with whom he had recently been in a relationship – and also found out he was the father of her child.

On March 5, Felton hid the wrench under his coat when he went to Mr Pyke’s office at the 800-pupil St Joseph’s Catholic School to discuss an email from a parent.

But when another teacher left the room, Felton swung the wrench while Mr Pyke’s back was turned – hitting him on the head and knocking him to the floor. Felton shouted at him: ‘You know what you’ve done’ as other teachers rushed to intervene.

The extraordinary CCTV of the incident shown to the court caused people in the public gallery to gasp as Felton landed a blow to the back of Mr Pyke’s head. 

Following the incident, police said Mr Pyke had been discharged from hospital after suffering minor injuries. 

Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, said: ‘Richard Pyke had worked at the school for 18 years and is now an assistant headmaster. They had been friends and colleagues for many years. 

‘During the first few days of March this year Mr Felton’s wife and several members of the staff at the school thought that he seemed distracted.’ 

Mr Rees said Felton arranged to meet Mr Pyke in his office to discuss an email but another teacher was already in the room. 

He said: ‘The two men began to discuss the email that had been received, then, without warning, Mr Felton struck Mr Pyke to the back of the head with a Stillson-type wrench which he had concealed under his coat.

‘The whole incident was captured on CCTV and it can been seen Mr Pyke sitting at his desk looking at his laptop when Mr Felton approaches him from behind and strikes him to the head with the wrench.’

He said Mr Pyke was knocked to the floor and tried to fight Felton off until other teachers intervened.

Mr Rees said Felton shouted: ‘You know what you’ve done’ – to which Mr Pyke said: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Mr Rees said: ‘Mr Felton went on to accuse him of having slept with another teacher.’

Mr Rees said: ‘He walked out of the door carrying the wrench, threw it down in the corridor before driving away from the school in his car.

‘A short while later he sent an email to all staff apologising for the problems and distress his actions were likely to cause.

‘The content of that email and admissions he made to his wife suggested that Mr Felton had been in a relationship with another member of staff and had recently discovered he was the father of her child.

‘Furthermore he believed Mr Pyke had begun his own relationship with that lady. It was what caused him to be distracted earlier in the week and explained his hostility to Mr Pyke.’

In a victim impact statement, Mr Pyke told the court he would live with the attack for the rest of his life, saying it had taken ‘what made me, me’.

‘I trusted you completely,’ he said.

‘I had no idea that you held anything against me, I thought we were trusted work colleagues who over many years had built up a relationship of respect and understanding. I admired you, I valued you.

‘You had my complete trust in every way and you used that to manoeuvre me into a position of utter vulnerability.

‘And then you attacked me from behind.’

He added: ‘The fear that you could attempt to do me such harm, smiling at me just seconds before, will always be with me.’

John Hipkin KC, defending, said Felton had suffered the grief of having lost his mother and had cancer treatment before the attack – but a third factor was a ‘terrible jealous overreaction to what he, the defendant, perceived as a betrayal’.

Mr Hipkin added: ‘This is on any view a spectacular fall from grace, by reason of this terrible act his career, marriage and home are all gone.

‘His relationship with his adult children will be severely tested. Put simply this is a man who will continue to suffer the consequences of this moment of madness for the rest of his life.

‘The consequences to him will last way beyond any sentence that the court will pass on him.’

Judge Paul Thomas KC said: ‘Ultimately the trigger for your extreme violence was of your own doing. The overwhelming sexual jealously arising from an adulterous affair and the uncontrollable rage it caused within you.’

He added: ‘This episode was a startling aberration, let us not underplay the effect of it, from a man who had deservedly reached the top of his profession who was clearly admired and respected by many.’

He said that Felton had been a ‘truly inspirational teacher who had before this episode led a truly exemplary life. That all makes this egregious event even more baffling.’

The father of three adult children lived in the Gorseinon area of Swansea with his wife Maria who is an RSE (relations and sex education) co-ordinator at the school.

In his email on the day of the attack, Felton wrote: ‘Dear staff, the greatest mistake I made was appointing ****** ******* in various roles.’

He added: ‘I’m sorry for the distress the rest of the day will bring. I am sorry.

‘She has slept her way to the top, currently engaging in sexual activity with at least 2 current members of the SLT (School Leadership Team) including Richard Pyke.

‘You are good people and do an amazing job for our community. Goodbye, John.’

Felton, who according to an annual report from the governing body was appointed headteacher in September 2023, pleaded guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm with intent on April 7.

Judge Thomas also said: ‘That a headmaster of a school should take and use a weapon to try to badly injure their deputy, is I suspect, entirely without precedent.

‘You are more than intelligent enough to realise when you plotted this bizarre attack that the impact and ramifications would be immense and far-reaching.’

The judge said the attack ‘was in effect an ambush,’ with Mr Pyke believing his attacker to be his friend.

The judge sentenced him at Swansea Crown Court to two years and four months in jail. Felton was also given a restraining order.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Simon Davies said: ‘Anthony Felton’s actions have resulted in him going to prison, have had a significant impact on his personal life and have destroyed his decades-long teaching career – not to mention the physical impact upon the victim, who we are pleased is on the road to recovery.

‘This attack, and its aftermath, has been an alarming ordeal not just for those directly involved, but also for other staff at the school, as well as the pupils and their parents and guardians.

‘There is absolutely no excuse for what Anthony Felton has done, and there was no other possible outcome than for him to go to prison.’

Abul Hussain of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘Anthony Felton struck a defenceless man repeatedly to the head with a metal weapon, demonstrating he had an intent to cause his victim really serious harm.

‘The level of unprovoked violence, from a professional in the workplace, was shocking.

‘Too often we see attacks of this nature result in life changing injuries or fatal consequences, and thankfully, that was not the result in this case.’